Beating a Traffic Ticket for Tailgating

We
all hate it when someone rides our bumper. And with good reason. Driving too
closely behind another vehicle really is dangerous. That’s why the traffic laws
of all states prohibit this conduct. Most define the violation as follows:

The driver of a
motor vehicle shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable
and prudent, having due regard for the speed of such vehicle and the traffic
upon, and the condition of, the roadway.

Elements of a Tailgating Violation

Here are the elements of this violation:

1. There
was a vehicle in front of you, in the same lane, and

2. You
followed more closely than reasonable, given the road, weather, and traffic
conditions.

The key to winning a case for tailgating is to prove
that your distance behind the other car was reasonable and prudent given the
circumstances at the time. The big word here is “circumstances.” If you are 15
feet behind another vehicle traveling at 70 mph, your actions are not
reasonable or prudent. But if traffic is creeping along at 10 mph, a distance
of 15 feet behind the car in front of yours
is reasonable. Now suppose traffic is proceeding at 25 mph. Is 15 feet
still a reasonable and prudent distance to follow the car ahead? Probably not.
The normal safety guideline is that a driver should leave one car length
between his or her car and the car in front of it for every 10 mph. So, to be
safe, a car traveling 60 mph should normally have at least six car lengths of
empty space between it and the car in front of it.

Convince the judge your tailgating was temporary.

Every driver has experienced situations where another
car suddenly slows down, with the result that you have to quickly adjust your
speed by also slowing down. In this case, an officer might see you before you have
completed your adjustment, making it falsely appear you were tailgating. If
this was what happened to you, you should testify along these lines.

I was traveling at 50 mph, according to my speedometer,
with the rest of traffic. I allowed at least five car lengths of space between
the front of my vehicle and the pickup truck
in front of me. However, when that truck abruptly slowed to about 35
mph, for no apparent reason, the distance closed to about two car lengths.
Before I could slow further, to lengthen the distance to three or four car
lengths, the officer behind me pulled me over. I tried to explain to the
officer that because there was no objective reason, such as heavy traffic, for
the truck to slow down, I couldn’t have anticipated it, but he wouldn’t discuss
what really happened.

Tailgating tickets are occasionally given when a driver
rear-ends another vehicle. In this instance, the officer usually has not
witnessed the accident and cannot testify that he or she saw you tailgating.
Fortunately, there are ways to defend against this type of ticket. For example,
the accident might have been caused by the other driver stopping too quickly or
pulling into your lane too close to your car. In short, it’s your job to
convince the judge in your direct testimony that there was a non-tailgating
explanation. And when you cross-examine the officer, you’ll want to establish
that because the officer didn’t see what happened, the officer can’t rule out
the fact that the accident was not caused by your tailgating. Because the other
driver won’t be present and the cop showed up later, this is often fairly easy
to do.